Before he could break in with excuses, I held up my hand.
“And it’s raining to boot. The speeds you were going aren’t safe under normal conditions. With the rain, I’m afraid that it’s even less safe.”
The man huffed, and his wife in the seat next to him stared down at her hands as she wrung them out nervously.
“License and registration,” I grunted.
It was clear he was agitated, and I wondered why he was in such a hurry.
“Here,” the man snapped.
I took the papers he thrust at me and turned toward the cruiser.
My eyes moved down to the name of the man I’d pulled over. Howard Brown. Forty-nine. Six foot with blonde hair and hazel eyes.
He looked like a douche.
He drove like one, too.
Especially with his entire family in the car with him.
My feet crunched on the gravel on the side of the road as I made my way back to the cruiser, and I had to laugh when I saw Tank hanging half out of the window waiting for me.
Tank was what I would call a work in progress. He definitely needed some work, but he was getting better.
In fact, I’d seen copious amounts of improvement since I’d first become his handler.
After getting Howard’s information pulled up on the computer, I wrote him a ticket, and started back to his car.
It was clear he was impatiently waiting for me to finish and I wanted to junk punch him.
“Sir,” I said the moment I got to the window. “I’m giving you a ticket. You’ll be receiving information in the mail in about a week to ten days on what you need to do to take care of the ticket.”
The man snatched the ticket and tossed it onto the floorboard between his wife’s feet.
“Thanks,” he snapped.
My eyes flicked to the two kids in the back. Teenagers. Impressionable.
Fucking perfect.
“Have a nice day. Slow down.” I nodded.
The man started the car and all but roared off, pulling in front of a truck that had just pulled out into the road.
I waved at the truck, whose driver looked at me incredulously.
The man waved back with a shake of his head, and I headed to my cruiser.
I wasn’t fond of writing tickets.
I didn’t think it was necessary.
Well, most days. That prick deserved it.
Five to ten miles over the speed limit was normal. Hell, I even sped.
In the days before Lynn, I used to race my old truck for bragging rights, and not once did I obey the speed limit.
Now, though, I was expected to enforce the law, despite my desire not to.
At least that law, anyway.
The other ones, the drunk driving and the domestic disputes. Those didn’t bother me to enforce. In fact, they got my adrenaline pumping like a drug of choice.
With one more shake of my head, I walked carefully back to the car, avoiding the puddles that were quickly forming on the ground.
This was the worst time. I’d witnessed it as a firefighter for Kilgore Fire Department, and had witnessed it even more over the last two weeks since there’d been so much rain.
People sucked at driving in the rain, but they sucked even more at driving when it just began to rain. It was like it took their brains a while to turn on when they saw the raindrops on their windshield.
After sliding into the cruiser, I looked in my rear view mirror as I rid my hair of a few stray raindrops.
“Where to now, Tank?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer, only stared.
With a small laugh, I turned my lights off, and then put the cruiser into drive.
After a quick look over my shoulder, I pulled back onto the highway and headed for the heart of Mooresville.
It was about five minutes from my scheduled lunch time, and as long as I went slow and nobody decided to pull any stupid moves, I’d be able to make it on time to eat lunch with Imogen and my mom.
Except nothing ever went the way it was supposed to as evidenced by the fucking radio that always knew when we were going to lunch.
“All units be advised, there’s a wreck involving multiple cars at mile marker sixty-six on Highway 290,” the dispatcher, Meredith, droned.
Wincing, I took a quick glance at my watch before I pulled up my phone and placed a call to Imogen.
Freakin’ perfect.
***
“You okay?” Tommy Tom asked worriedly.
I looked at him, then nodded.
“Fine.”
“Umm, Dr. Tommy?” a hesitant voice broke into our conversation. “The teenager is asking for her parents. Is it all right if I…”
Tommy nodded his head. “Tell her, but be ready to give her some Ativan if anything goes wrong.”
The girl nodded, her eyes lingering on Tommy Tom, before she hustled away.
“New nurse?” I asked casually.
Tommy Tom crossed his arms over his chest.
“Yeah,” he nodded his head. “Almost, anyway. She’s a student nurse right now. Has two more shifts and then has to pass her boards, and then she’ll be working in the ER full-time. Fucking my life up even more.”
My brows rose.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because she sets my fucking dick on permanent hard-on, and it’s fucking killing me, especially when I have to wear goddamn scrub pants that help conceal nothing.”
I snorted.
“That’s a bad thing that she makes you horny?” I asked. “Why don’t you do something about that?”
He sighed.
“I’ve done it…and it hasn’t gone away.”
I choked.
“You…Mr. I-don’t-sleep-with-students, slept with a student?” I asked.
His mouth tightened.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he grumbled. “It’s bad enough that I can’t fucking think straight. I don’t need your shit, too.”
Winking at him, I offered him my hand.
“Thank you for your help.”
He took it and looked me in the eye.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to see what you saw today.” He stared at me. “I’m sorry.”
I was sorry, too.
The man that I’d pulled over for speeding in the rain had followed the speed limit for about a half mile once he left me.
Another three down the road he’d lost control of the car, and had smashed into an oncoming car head on.
He’d killed not just himself, but his wife in the front seat, as well as the son in the backseat.
The only survivor had been the teenage girl, and if she was lucky, she’d be able to walk with a limp for the rest of her life.
If she was unlucky, she’d be wheelchair bound.
And I found, after my years as a paramedic/firefighter, it never got easier seeing people hurt. Seeing the pain that the teenager had gone through while I waited with her for an ambulance to arrive had been terrible.
It was something I hoped I never had to experience again.
With one last slap to the back, Tommy Tom left, leaving me to my own thoughts.
Yeah, today was bad.
And I knew, if I was going to keep doing this job—a job that I found that I loved even more than being a firefighter—I was going to have to take a break or I’d burn out.
Lucky for me, twenty minutes later and sitting in Big Papa’s office, he saw the necessity just as I did.
“I need a fuckin’ vacation.” I dropped down into the seat next to his desk.
“So take one,” he said. “You’ve been working here two solid years without one. I’m pretty sure we can handle a few weeks off without you.”
“I have a dog to take care of, and a kid to pay for. I can’t take a freakin’ vacation.”
That was a lie and we both knew it. I didn’t need to work like I was.
Big Papa eyed me, then l
ooked down at Tank.
“Mei will watch Tank,” he said. “She’s watched him for you before when you went off for the weekend and asked Imogen to marry you—though I can’t believe she said yes.”
I flipped him off.
He was right, though.
“Fine,” I mumbled, standing up. “I’ll call Mei and ask her if she wants to watch Tank. Then I’ll take the week.”
Big Papa choked. “You can’t go this early. I have to find someone to cover for your shift.”
I shrugged. “I guess I could always go full-time for the fire department…you know the job I really want to do.”
Big Papa sighed. “Fuck you. Get out of my office.”
With a smile on my face, Tank and I made our way out of his office.
After securing Mei’s permission, I stopped by her house on the way home.
The minute she opened the door, Tank was curling around Mei’s feet like a cat.
“I think he missed you,” I drawled, knowing for a fact that he did.
Tank loved Mei, and Mei loved Tank.
However, they were each a painful reminder of what was no longer there and they knew it.
Though they did see each other, I was sure it wasn’t anywhere near as much as they could have.
“He’s getting fat,” Mei’s sweet voice filled the cool night around us. “I’m going to have to see what I can do about that this next week.”
I snorted a laugh. “If anything, you’ll make him fatter. You spoil the boy.”
Mei’s face lit.
“How are you doing, honey?” I whispered.
Her face softened. “I’m doing okay.”
“Promise?” I asked.
She moved forward and reached for my face, which I lowered to her so she could place her palm on my now less blemished skin.
“I’m doing okay,” she promised. “Really.”
I placed my hand on top of hers.
“You know that you can call me—or Imogen—if you ever need anything, right?” I asked.
Her eyes lit.
“Yes, honey, I do,” she promised. “Now get out of here. Take that girl of yours on a vacation.”
With a small hug, I left her there, smiling down at Tank, and went home to collect Mrs. Aaron Sims.
***
Imogen
“When my husband goes outside to investigate a strange noise, how long do you think I have to wait before going to check on him?” I asked another cop wife, Collette, who was married to an officer that Aaron worked with.
“Uhhh,” Collette laughed. “Tough would kill me if I came outside while he was investigating a strange noise. In fact, I would even go as far as to say he’d paddle my ass…but you know how I like that.”
Aaron had done the investigating last night and had stayed outside for nearly fifteen minutes.
I’d contemplated following him out there over five times throughout those long fifteen minutes, but I’d stopped myself each time.
As it turned out, it’d only been Tommy Tom, and the two of them had had a quick chat before Aaron had returned.
After telling him he wasn’t to make me worry like that next time he was investigating something scary, I forced him to tell me what Tommy Tom’s problem was—which to my surprise had been a woman.
“I’ll remember that,” I told her. “I made him make it up to me, though.”
“Ohh,” Collette cooed. “Did he break out the cuffs?”
I snorted and leaned back into my chair, looking up at the window when I heard the familiar Harley pipes signaling my man’s return.
“I gotta go,” I said, smiling when I stood. “Aaron’s home.”
“Righty-O,” she called. “Let me know if you need anything.”
My amusement died when I walked to the door and saw Aaron without Tank.
Normally the two of them hurried up the walk as a race, but today, Aaron was taking the walk like he was tired. Defeated.
And there was no Tank.
I threw the door open and was nearly in tears before I even made it to him.
“What happened?” I gasped, throwing myself at him.
The impact was jarring due to the fact that he was still wearing not only his Kevlar vest, but his utility belt, but I didn’t care.
He caught me easily, and dropped a kiss on my head.
“Nothing,” he answered automatically.
He didn’t tell me about his day when they were bad.
That was something he always shielded me from. Not because I asked him to, but because he felt that I didn’t need to know that part of the world.
“Did you go to work today?” he asked almost absently.
I shook my head. “No. Pops was there and he delegated. Though, he did happen to mention that a school teacher ‘hottie’ named Tawny stopped by to get her car worked on. She had a man pick her up.”
Aaron’s mouth tipped up into a semblance of a grin.
“Your Pops is something else,” he muttered, ignoring the Tawny part as he always did every time her name came up. Tawny had burned her bridges with Aaron after going through his drawers when she was cleaning for him all those years ago. And I guessed she finally realized that what she was pursuing with Aaron just wasn't going to work out. Thank God.
“Your Pops is taking his job back, and you’re making all the money.”
I grinned.
That was true.
I went in when I wanted to. Paid payroll, and basically lived the life I felt like living.
Though, that was all because, in the last two years, Aaron and I had built my business from a small shop into a freakin’ huge—multimillion dollar empire—all with fixing up the Nova, a 1969 Baldwin Motion Nova to be specific. Turns out there were less than one hundred ever produced and we had one of them.
We’d taken it to the Barrett Jackson Auction the day after we’d finished it, and he’d collected over two hundred thousand dollars for the car due to some man wanting it bad enough to place one single bid high enough that no one would outbid him.
That money had then gone into the shop and building and restoring more cars, equaling even more money. We were now known as the go-to place if you wanted your classic car restored in the South.
It was freakin’ huge, and we loved it.
Though, now that I didn’t have to work all day every day, I found myself doing quite a few things that I wouldn’t normally do. Such as searching for cars to restore, despite the hundreds that we turned down on a quarterly basis.
Unfortunately, there was only one Aaron and one me. We were the only two that worked on the cars—which freed up my other employees to work on the mechanic side of the shop—offering the same thing to the community that we’ve always had.
“So…” Aaron broke into my thoughts. “Big Papa kind of forced a vacation on me.”
My brows rose.
“And they kept Tank?” I asked in alarm.
I’d come to love Tank, as had Aaron.
I’d fight tooth and nail for that dog if he were ever taken away from us like Mei had had happen to her.
“No,” Aaron shook his head. “I dropped him off for a visit with Mei while we go on an impromptu vacation.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s okay, then,” I admitted. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
He gave me a look that clearly said he wanted me to change the subject, so I did. Albeit reluctantly.
“Davis and Kellen went on double dates today,” I said, breaking into his thoughts.
His brows went up.
“You’re shitting me,” he said. “Are they even old enough to date?”
I shrugged.
“Clarabelle seems to think so. Though, he’s only eleven, and she drove them all to the movies, and then out to eat,” I smiled. “And watched them like a hawk. They also spoke non-stop about Kellen’s new ‘hot mom.’”
I grinned. Ke
llen’s new foster mother was the bomb, and she was beautiful. I’d give the boys that. But she had a husband who was a State Trooper, and she only had eyes for mature men.
“And how did Sunny’s appointment go?”
The sound of the Velcro from Aaron’s vest had my heart beating a little slower.
That sound was always triggered a feeling of relief in me. Knowing that he was home and safe.
“Sunny’s appointment went well.” I watched as he stripped his undershirt off over his head. “Her husband still isn’t talking to her.”
Aaron snorted, and I tossed the pillow at him.
He caught it and launched it back at me, hitting me square in the face.
“Owww,” I laughed uncontrollably. “What the hell, hubby?”
He rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know why you expect me to think that what they have is okay. Now there’s a freakin’ kid involved and it’s a fucking mess.” He shook his head.
Sunny had been on one of her ‘off’ periods with her husband and had gotten pregnant due to failed birth control. Now she and her husband weren’t talking, and the guy that got her pregnant was in the wind.
She was eight months pregnant and still held out hope that she’d reconcile with her man, but he hadn’t come around yet.
The moment Aaron’s shirt was off, he dropped down to the bed with a groan.
“We’re going on vacation.” He closed his eyes. “To the fucking beach.”
I looked at him like he was crazy.
“It’s in the middle of busy season at all the beaches. How exactly do you expect to make this happen?” I challenged him.
He smiled then, turning his face toward me.
Then like a snake, he struck, pushing me to my back with his big body on top of me.
“I’ve got a few things up my sleeve.”
“You’re not wearing any sleeves,” I pointed out breathlessly.
He brought his mouth down to mine.
“Trust me, baby,” he growled against my lips. “It’s gonna happen. You can pack that bikini now.”
I burst out laughing.
“Dream on,” I squirmed.
He dropped down to his knees and pressed his mouth to the slight swell of my belly.
“Trust me,” he whispered. “You’ll look perfect.”
I wrapped my arms around his head, and hugged him while he continued to press kisses to my belly.
Beard Mode (The Dixie Warden Rejects MC Book 1) Page 20